Italian Law On Business Crime

Italian business law is chaotic, many laws are passed without reference to a systematic body of law. This text organizes this mass of legislative material into a coherent and useful body of law. It assures business people that their conduct is legal and helps identify the illegal conduct of others. Business crime with a corresponding recourse to criminal law and procedure to redress socially unacceptable business conduct continues to rise in many Western countries.

In Italy this trend has taken the form of a vast and chaotic collection of special laws, many of them proposed and passed ad hoc in response to specific crimes, and without reference to the Italian Criminal Code or any other systematic body of law. As a result, business activity in Italy is particularly fraught with risk and uncertainty.

Italian Law on Business Crime is the first book to sort out and organize this mass of legislative material into a coherent and useful body of law. It offers the business person clear assurance that his or her conduct in the course of entrepreneurial or other business activity in Italy will not fall foul of the law.

It also provides guidance in identifying and combating the illegal conduct of others that can arise in such areas as taxation and bankruptcy proceedings. Beginning with a detailed background in the elements of Italian criminal law and business crime in general, Professor Di Amato goes on to analyze the particular crimes that can arise in corporate activity, bankruptcy proceedings, matters of taxation and customs duties, transfer of goods, compliance with environmental standards, competition and other market issues, finance, banking, insurance, securities, financial services, and use of negotiable instruments.

The book concludes with a concise and valuable description of Italian criminal procedure.